W-8BEN for YouTube AdSense: How to Avoid the 30% U.S. Tax on Monetization Income

If you are a member of the YouTube Partner Program and monetize your content, you have likely received a notification from Google AdSense requesting you to provide U.S. tax information. This is a standard procedure, as Google (YouTube's parent company) is an American company and is required to withhold taxes on income received from viewers in the U.S. For creators residing outside the United States, the key document in this process is Form W-8BEN.

Ignoring this request can lead to Google automatically withholding up to 30% of your entire worldwide income, not just from American viewers. Correctly filling out Form W-8BEN, however, allows you to significantly reduce this rate, sometimes even to 0%.

Understanding Your YouTube Income: Why It's Considered 'Royalties'

Before filling out the form, it is important to understand how the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) classifies your income from YouTube AdSense. In most cases, this income is considered 'royalties'.

• Country: Poland
• Article and paragraph to reference: Article 12, paragraph 2
• Tax rate: 10%
• Type of income: Copyright royalties

Why royalties? Because you, as a creator, grant YouTube a license to use your intellectual property (your videos). The income you receive from ad views, YouTube Premium subscriptions, Super Chat, and other monetization features is, in essence, a payment for the right to use your copyrighted content.

On Form W-8BEN, you will need to specify the type of income to apply the correct article from the double taxation treaty. For YouTube bloggers, this will almost always be 'Copyright royalties'.

How to Take Advantage of Double Taxation Treaties

The United States has tax treaties with many countries around the world. The purpose of these treaties is to avoid situations where the same person pays tax on the same income in both countries. Thanks to these treaties, you can claim a reduced tax rate at the source in the U.S.

Examples of Completion for Different Countries:

To do this, in Part II of Form W-8BEN ('Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits'), you need to specify your country of tax residence and reference the specific article and paragraph of the relevant treaty. Below, we provide examples for several countries.

Poland

For tax residents of Poland who are individual entrepreneurs (JDG) or individuals, the treaty with the U.S. allows for a reduction of the tax rate on royalties to 10%.

Ukraine

Ukraine also has a treaty with the U.S. that allows for a reduced tax rate on income classified as royalties. For residents of Ukraine, this rate is 10%.

• Country: Ukraine
• Article and paragraph to reference: Article 12, paragraph 2
• Tax rate: 10%
• Type of income: Copyright royalties

Spain

Tax residents of Spain are in a favorable position. According to the protocol to the tax treaty between Spain and the U.S., the tax rate on copyright royalties is reduced to 0%.

• Country: Spain
• Article and paragraph to reference: Article 12, paragraph 2
• Tax rate: 0%
• Type of income: Copyright royalties

Similarly to Spain, the treaty between Japan and the U.S. provides for a full exemption from withholding tax on royalty income.

Japan

Important: Tax treaties can change. Always check the relevance of the information at the time of filling out the form.

The process of filling out a tax form can seem complicated, and mistakes can cost you a significant part of your earned money. To avoid stress and guarantee the accuracy of the data, we have developed an intuitive wizard for filling out Form W-8BEN.

• Country: Japan
• Article and paragraph to reference: Article 12, paragraph 1
• Tax rate: 0%
• Type of income: Copyright royalties

Our service will help you go through all the necessary fields step by step, automatically substitute the correct references to the tax treaty for your country, and generate a ready-to-send PDF form. All you have to do is download it and provide it in your Google AdSense personal account.

Don't waste time and money: Fill out your W-8BEN form in minutes!